Become the King of Motorcycle Accidents
Best spam of the day.
"Become the King of Motorcycle Accidents," the subject line promised:
Be the FIRST lawyer called to come to the aid of a motorcycle accident victim.
Become the local lawyer of our national motorcycle organization "(hi (victim name),I'm attorney Smith,the lawyer for (motorcycle organization)-I understand you were in an accident- anyone injured?)"
Not all states available. Minimum advertising investment $10k per area.
Email or call for details.
Don't blame a trial lawyer. This piece of spam isn't from an attorney, it's from a company that's trying to sell an advertising service to lawyers.
I'll only not blame the trial lawyers if no one buys the service.
Was listening to an attorney yesterday bemoan what has happened to a "once great profession".
There was a time when you'd be sanctioned by the bar for aggressive advertising.
Now, they're all ambulance chasers.
Posted by: The Phantom | April 18, 2008 at 10:36 AM
"There was a time when you'd be sanctioned by the bar for aggressive advertising.
Now, they're all ambulance chasers."
About this time three years ago I was watching a very prestigious and expensive law firm- the kind which would never be caught dead on daytime TV- helping to get a little girl delivered to the custody of a father who had clearly molested her. There are multiple standards of judgement.
Personally, I'd stick to victims of car accidents- bigger families, more income and lower mortality rates.
Posted by: Cass | April 18, 2008 at 01:25 PM
Cass
That's why I would never want to be a lawyer ( a criminal defense lawyer, certain divorce lawyers or corporate attorneys ) --there are times when their code of professional ethics requires them to actively be a party to injustice--including things such as what you mention.
Its the one profession where in order to be ethical to professional standards you often must be unethical as a human being.
Posted by: The Phantom | April 18, 2008 at 01:39 PM
As a consumer of health care products, I don't like to think that those spam ads for herbal penis enlargement reflect on me personally.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | April 18, 2008 at 01:41 PM
People actually still are sanctioned by state bars for inappropriate advertising all the time. Legal advertising is extremely heavily regulated -- something capitalism- and Constitution-loving conservatives should object to.
I wouldn't be too quick to think lawyers are unique in the risk that their professional obligations forcing them to sometimes participate in injustice -- any time you're working for a large business (or government) enterprise you can't control, that might happen.
Posted by: aeroman | April 19, 2008 at 05:21 PM
That sentence was mangled, but you get the drift.
Posted by: aeroman | April 19, 2008 at 05:25 PM
Well, its the only profession I know where its your duty to help a murderer escape justice. ( Johnny Cochran )
or to put the victim of a rape "on trial" when providing the "vigorous defense" on behalf of the rapist. ( happens every day in American courts )
There'd be few things that corporate wage slaves do that would match the above for ethical depravity. I can think of certain actions of cigarette company executives in years past, but all will agree that those who did that were monsters.
Posted by: The Phantom | April 19, 2008 at 06:01 PM
its the only profession I know where its your duty to help a murderer escape justice. ( Johnny Cochran )
So what are you saying here? People accused of crimes should not be represented? That the lawyers who do represent the accused should be working for, or vetted by the prosecution? That we should have some sort of kangaroo “people's courts” for crimes that cross a certain heinousness threshold? That lawyers should be prosecuted as criminal co-conspirators if they defend a client they know or suspect is guilty? That presumption of innocence is fundamentally inimical to justice?
As for Chochran, what would you have had him do? The prosecution was incompetent. Should the accused's lawyer scale his/her defense so as not to exceed the skill of the prosecution?
Posted by: cfrost | April 20, 2008 at 03:41 AM
I'm not making any proposal for changes in the justice system.
I only make the point that a policeman or prosecutor will is honor bound to seek justice--and that a cop or a DA can be sanctioned for false arrest or malicious prosecution.
A defense attorney is not honor bound or to seek justice at all. His job is to vigorously defend his client, and to get the charges dismissed or reduced. Period.
A defense attorney will search for the truth where it is tactically convenient--when his client actually is innocent. But where he knows damned well that the client is guilty, his ethical duty is convince the jury that the truth is in fact untrue-by the sewing of doubt, confusion, impugning the character of the police, the victim, etc by any means necessary.
An honest DA would be personally shattered if he/she got an innocent man sent to prison, and his reputation might suffer. An attorney who through his powers of persuasion enables a guilty man to walk free will never face sanctions--his fellow lawyers will actually respect him more, for having secured the release of a murderer, rapist, or big time drugs dealer. And his fee will go up.
If you can live with the man in the mirror, being a defense attorney can be fine work indeed.
Posted by: The Phantom | April 20, 2008 at 03:11 PM
Just because there is advertisements like this, doesn't mean that all accident attorneys are ambulance chasers. I don't like to think that those spam ads reflect on all law firms service.
Posted by: Ajlouny & Associates | September 10, 2008 at 12:55 AM